The Bay County Sheriff’s office is offering a class for area residents about common scams and how to avoid them.

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The Financial Crimes Unit through the Bay County Sheriff’s office is teaching the two-hour “common scams” class. Topics will include scams currently operating in the Bay County area and anticipated trends.

While most scammers target the elderly, sheriff’s office spokeswoman Ruth Corley encourages everyone to take the class.

“I would encourage people who have grandparents or maybe they’re own parents are elderly to take the time to inform yourself about the scams,” she said. “And, that way you can teach the elderly person in your life what to look for, what to notice as your red flag…a lot of times elderly people, they’ll open their doors to people coming to their doors knocking on it, not thinking this person is looking to scam them.”

And, Corley says one of the most common kind of scam in the Bay County area are construction scams.

“They will often pinpoint a home that might need a little work in the yard or the concrete around the yard, and they offer a very quick solution to that person who’s elderly that doesn’t really know what to do about fixing these things, and maybe the family’s busy and they can’t help them and so, this looks like a good way to solve that problem and they get scammed,” she added. “So, take the time when you hear about scams to inform the elderly people in your life.”

This month’s class on August 31 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. is limited to 50, and it’s filling up fast with mostly elderly participants. But, Corley says if there is continued interest, they’re considering adding an extra day for another class. For more information on how to register, contact the Bay County Sheriff’s office at 850-215-5439.

For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter:@SaschaCordner.

The ‘Green Dot Money Card’ scam has now made its way to the Bay County area. It’s a scam which has already plagued parts of the Big Bend and South Georgia areas, and Bay County Sheriff’s deputies are warning residents to be careful.

Bay County Sheriff’s deputies are warning residents about the latest scam plaguing the area—advertising a fake cruise in exchange for personal information.

In recent months, the Bay County area has been troubled by several scams. Some target the elderly, telling them a loved one is in jail and needs bail money. Others come with a letter that tells the recipient they’ve won two airline tickets, but must give their social security and date of birth to claim them. Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Ruth Corley says there’s now a similar scheme:

Bay County Sheriff’s deputies are warning residents about a scam in which a phony post office website charges a fee for address changes.

On Monday, deputies say they were alerted to the scam, after receiving complaints from two local victims. They say they were told to change their address with the U.S. Postal Service via an online website.

But, authorities say after using the website, not only were their addresses not changed, the victims paid a 40 dollar fee for the non-service.

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